


the tooth fairy

by msmarycrawley



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Absent Parents, Angst, Childhood Friends, Coming of Age, Emotional Hurt, Emotionally Repressed, Gen, Growing Up, My First Work in This Fandom, Private School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-23 21:01:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20222536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msmarycrawley/pseuds/msmarycrawley
Summary: 13-year-old Alexis doesn't know how to explain what feels missing from her life until she meets someone new.





	the tooth fairy

**Author's Note:**

> This began as a bit of an exercise for me, I wanted to write something shorter. It didn't end up being short at all, because I'm incapable of doing that buuut I also wanted to write a fic for Schitt's Creek before it hit 1k on here and I'm happy I achieved that goal. I'm binge-watching this show and LOVING it. Alexis is my favorite character. Expect more from me about her at some point.

Alexis didn't understand why Jill Haynes invited her to a sleepover. Alone. Anybody would be lucky to have her of course, but she didn't KNOW her. The most she's said to her was "hello" passing by in the hallways at school, and she wouldn't have even gone if her mother didn't insist on it. "Think of how _happy_ it will make her," she said. While that may have been true, Alexis didn't want to be the one to take on the charity case. Jill was unusual. She wasn't mean, she wasn't unkempt, but she was...odd. She was new in school, and nobody knew how her parents made their money or if they had any at all because she came across as so middle-class. It was a shame because was pretty- a brunette with green eyes and freckles, and she always wore her hair down the same way. 

Jill didn't talk like the rest of the girls in her grade did. She she wore what she wanted, not what was in season. She didn't seem to mind that she didn't fit in and if she did she never showed it. Since Jill didn't care, nobody paid attention to her. The more Alexis thought about it, the more it frustrated her. She could integrate but chose not to. And now she was stuck with going over to a sleepover and having to pray she didn't tell anyone about it. 

When she got to Jill's house, she noticed that it wasn't as big as any of the property her family owned. But when she got to her room to drop her things off, she was pleasantly surprised by the decor. Jill kept looking at her, presumably to see if she approved, and she did. The walls were painted a nice light green color, and she had a large silver canopy hanging over a king-sized bed. There was a soft white rug in the middle of the floor that Alexis immediately gravitated to. "I'm sorry it's a little messy. Just make yourself at home," she heard Jill say as she sat down, waiting for her host to set the tone for the night. She was hurrying around like a maniac and Alexis found it very amusing. "Kay," she replied and scanned the walls surrounding her. Everything looked pretty normal, maybe she wasn't that weird after all. 

"What's this?" she eyed a pretty blue container sitting on her dresser. Alexis looked to Jill, who was rummaging for something in her closet. She made the executive decision to open it assuming there would be necklaces or other jewelry inside, but instead she was met with...

"EW!" 

Alexis jumped back immediately and let the container fall to the floor, spilling its contents towards her. "Ew ew ew!" She kept hopping up and down and flailing her arms. 

"I found it! This one's my favorite." Jill smiled triumphantly. She was holding up a board game and had tuned Alexis out in her concentration. Once she saw her horrified expression from across the room, she said,  
"Oh, those are my baby teeth!" as if that was a normal thing to find on a dresser. Alexis grimaced and crossed her arms, keeping a distance between the teeth and refusing to look at both them and Jill. She felt like she needed a shower. Her sleepover host walked over to her. "My parents gave them back to me when I turned twelve and they stopped growing in, just as a keepsake I guess," she said, shooting Alexis a glance as she knelt down and picked up the teeth one by one. Alexis stared at her, mystified. "Why do you have them... why do you have them at all?" She couldn't stop herself from thinking that not only was everyone right about Jill, this girl was from another world. She wanted to run out of that room. For all she knew, they could be another person's teeth.

Jill stood up, looking at the collection of teeth in the palm of her hands as she carefully placed each one back into the container. "You know, from when they took them under my pillow," she said. Alexis didn't know how to respond. "Like, the tooth fairy." She paused for a second and then continued, "wait, did your parents never do that?" Her expression changed in an instant, but for a moment Jill looked at her like she just realized something crucial about her. Her eyes widened and then settled, and Alexis swore she could almost see _pity_ in them. It made her uncomfortable and a little angry. If anything, Alexis should be the one pitying HER. She didn't have to be here. "No," she replied defensively. "They didn't."

"Oh. I always just thought it was a cultural thing. I think it is." Jill walked over to the rug with the container in her hand, motioning for Alexis to follow. Which she did, albeit very slowly. Both girls sat down cross-legged, Alexis keeping as much distance as possible between her and Jill before she could be considered rude. "Why?" Alexis asked. She was still wary, but a little bit curious, and determined to figure out why Jill reacted that way when she told her that her parents didn't tell her about the tooth fairy. "Why what? Why is it a cultural thing?" Alexis nodded. Jill was concentrating on how to answer a question she didn't know she'd ever be asked. "I don't know. It doesn't really mean anything, maybe the passage from childhood to adulthood? Plus you get a few dollars!" Still resisting her impulse to run away, Alexis began to lay down on the rug, picking at the fur to avoid looking at those things. "Is it common?" Jill nodded, laying down too and swinging her legs. "I think so. I've never met anyone that didn't know what the tooth fairy was. I don't think you really have to be _taught_ about it, it's just something parents do. Maybe it is weird, I don't know." Alexis didn't think it was weird. Instead, she was starting to think that it was very interesting. 

"Do you see this one?" Jill said, opening up the container again and holding up a singular tooth. Oh, Alexis saw it all right. "It's a little bit black because my mom and dad took me to the carnival when I was eight and I got a cavity from it. I ate a lot of cotton candy." "I've never been to a carnival," she responded. "You HAVEN'T?" Jill's eyes widened. "You have no idea what you're missing! It's so much fun. We used to go every year until I moved here." "You and your parents?" "Yeah, me and my parents. We're pretty close." Alexis nodded. She was beginning to get that impression. A few moments of silence passed between them before Jill said, "Maybe your parents just forgot. About the tooth fairy, I mean." Somehow, this didn't sit well with Alexis, but she didn't want to dwell on it. "Yeah, I think they did. Is it okay if we go downstairs now?" 

The rest of the day was uneventful. The girls watched a few movies, went shopping, and ate an adequate dinner made by her mother who was very nice. Alexis was surprised she was home. At night, they went back up to her room to sleep; Alexis on an air mattress they kindly provided and Jill on her bed. At around 10 pm, when all the lights were out and silence filled the space, Alexis was left alone with her thoughts. Jill, as it turns out, was mostly normal, but they were still just acquaintances. She didn't have a bad time, but she couldn't figure out why she was being so nice to her, and why she was so different from every other girl she knew. Finally, when she realized she wouldn't stop thinking about it until she did something about it, Alexis said, "Can I ask you something? Why did you invite me here?" She licked her lips and stared at the ceiling. It was a little more forthcoming than what she probably should have said, but it was done now. After a few seconds, she heard Jill say, "Because I knew you would come." All that could be heard in the room was the hum of the air conditioning in the silence that followed. Alexis could have left it there, but she didn't. She felt horrible, because she wouldn't have come if her mother didn't make her. "...Why?"

She could hear Jill sitting up. "You just seemed nice. And I'm moving soon, so I wanted to do something before I left. I know everyone wonders what my parents do. They're doctors. We aren't as rich as you all." She laid back down and both girls didn't talk for the rest of the night.

The next morning after being dropped off, Alexis waited downstairs in the kitchen in hopes of catching David having breakfast. Their schedules never overlapped.  
When she finally saw him sauntering down the stairs, she asked, "David, do you know about the tooth fairy?" Her brother stared at her for what felt like an hour. "Alexis... what?" Alexis was relieved that at least one other person had no idea about this. "Yeah, I didn't either." "Okay, back up." he leaned away from the counter and then propped his head up on his elbows. "Explain." "I was at this girl's house, and she was telling me that apparently when you lose baby teeth, you put them under your pillow and then your parents take it and replace it with money. They tell them it's the tooth fairy." David squinted at her. "Why?" "I don't know, I think it's like Santa." He took a bite out of an apple. "That's very quaint." 

At school, Alexis asked a few friends. She got the same reaction every time: surprise, like it was a given, and odd that she didn't know about it. Everyone knew but her and David. 

It was a few days before Alexis saw her mother again, this time in one of their living rooms. Alexis was doing her homework on the floor when she walked in and sat down at a couch. They acknowledged each other with a glance before she put on her reading glasses. She usually interacted with her parents in passing, or sometimes in a blue moon at a meal. As she got older, she saw them less and less and thought nothing of it, but now she was thinking about it. She wished she wasn't. Her mother was studying a new script, as intense as she always was.  
Alexis looked at her and cleared her throat, which yielded no response. She knew she was busy, but.. not even a hello? A few minutes passed before she worked up the nerve to talk to her. She didn't know what to say, but she wanted to say something. They all knew how she was when she was working. Alexis almost didn't bother because she had no idea how she'd react. But since that could apply to almost any scenario involving her mother, she figured she'd take the risk. 

"Mom, have you ever been to a carnival?"

This made her look up.

"What?"

"A carnival," Alexis sat up and brushed off herself. 

"Hmm..." she was still glancing at her script, and then with a huff realized her concentration had been broken and set it aside. "As a matter of fact, I have. Years ago."

"Before dad?" she knew her mother didn't always like to talk about life before New York, but she was curious. 

Moira uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. Alexis had now managed to gain her undivided attention in this conversation. "Yes dear, before your father," she said, smiling slightly.

Alexis scooted towards her a little bit. "Well, can we go sometime? Or.. can I go?" 

Her mother stopped smiling and regained her normal composure as if she had slipped up and allowed herself to be sentimental for too much than she cared for. "No," she replied sharply. "You don't want to anyway. They're always dirty and filled with hooligans. Attending one would be beneath your dignity- unless, I suppose, you were gifting something to whichever organization ran it." She reached over and cupped Alexis's cheek. "Why are you thinking about carnivaaals?" she said, especially enunciating the word. 

_I don't know, mom. Why don't you say hi? Why is it so hard to talk to you? Why did you forget about the tooth fairy? Why don't you like me?_

"No reason," Alexis murmured, moving away from her mother's hand. The gesture wasn't genuine, she just wanted her to see things her way. She slowly looked up at her, just as Moira settled back into the couch. It was now or never.  
"Did you keep any of my baby teeth?"

She didn't keep any, but one maid did. She liked Alexis and was apparently there when she lost it. Moira didn't know her name, and it took Alexis forever to find her, but she was so grateful that she had one at all. The teeth and the tooth fairy had become very important to her in a way she couldn't understand. She wondered where the rest of the baby teeth were. Were they all disposed of? Were they somewhere in one of their houses, under a bed, under a blanket, or in a garden, swept away and forgotten about? 

Once she had it, Alexis lay on her back on bed and held up the tooth, turning it slowly. It shined in the sunlight. She tried so hard to remember where she was when any of them were lost, but she couldn't. It didn't matter until now. But it mattered. It mattered that she didn't have her teeth and that her parents didn't care about it. Alexis was starting to think that her life was like Jill's tooth with the cavity in it-shiny and white, but with a hole underneath. If it kept growing, if it hadn't fallen out, it would all turn rotten.

At school, nothing changed. Alexis still only said "hello" and "goodbye" to Jill when she saw her. She called Alexis the day before she moved. Alexis cried for an hour, and she didn't understand why.


End file.
